V. I. Lenin

Speech To Men Of The Red Army

Leaving For The Polish Front

May 5, 1920[1]

Delivered:5 May, 1920First Published:Pravda,May 2, 1920;  Published according to the newspaper textSource:Lenin’sCollected Works, 4th English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1965,Volume 31, pages 127-128Translated:Julius KatzerTranscription\HTML Markup:David Walters&R. CymbalaCopyleft:V. I. Lenin Internet Archive (www.marx.org) 2002. Permission is granted to copy and/or distribute this document under the terms of theGNU Free Documentation License

Comrades: You know that, instigated by the Entente,
    the Polish landowners and capitalists have forced a new war on
    us. Remember, comrades, that we have no quarrel with the Polish
    peasants and workers; we have recognised Poland – s
    independence and the Polish People’s Republic, and shall
    continue to do so. We have proposed peace to Poland on the basis
    of the integrity of her frontiers, although these frontiers extend
    far beyond the purely Polish population. We have agreed to make
    all concessions, which is something each of you should remember at
    the front. Let your attitude to the Poles there prove that you are
    soldiers of a workers’ and peasants’ republic, that
    you are coming to them, not as aggressors but as liberators. Now
    that, despite our efforts, the Polish magnates have concluded an
    alliance with Petlyura, launched an offensive, are approaching
    Kiev, and are spreading rumours in the foreign press that they
    have already captured Kiev – which is the sheerest fabrication
    since only yesterday I was talking on the direct line with F. Kon,
    who is in Kiev – we say: Comrades, we have been able to repel
    a more terrible enemy; we have been able to defeat our own
    landowners and capitalists, and we shall defeat the Polish
    landowners and capitalists too! All of us here today should pledge
    ourselves, give a solemn promise, that we shall stand as one man
    so as not to allow a victory of the Polish magnates and
    capitalists. Long live the peasants and workers of a free
    independent Polish Republic! Down with the Polish magnates,
    landowners and capitalists! Long live our Red Workers’ and
    Peasants’ Army!(The mighty strains of the
    "Internationale" and cries of"Hurrah"drown Comrade
    Lenin’s final words.)

[1]This speech was made by V. I. Lenin on May 5, 1920, in Teatralnaya
    Square (now Sverdlov Square), where a parade of the Moscow
    garrison troops took place. Petrograd Communists leaving for the
    Polish front were also present at the
    parade.– Editor.